GEBABS - Group of Spectroscopy and Bioinformatics Applied Biodiversity and Health, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, 79070-900, Brazil.
Graduate Program in Health and Development in the Midwest Region of Brazil, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, 79070-900, Brazil.
Biol Trace Elem Res. 2022 Mar;200(3):1442-1454. doi: 10.1007/s12011-021-02732-z. Epub 2021 May 22.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 80% of people rely on medicinal plants for their primary health needs. Traditional medicine's principal benefits are their vast population knowledge, low severe adverse effects rate, low cost, and the lack of a medical prescription to use them. While obesity has become a global health issue, an increase in finding cheap and fast ways to lose weight escalates medicinal herbs' use for this purpose, both in dietary supplements or in teas. At the same time that Brazil aims to expand traditional medicine, reports regarding toxicology and poisoning put natural products' safety in check. Plants can accumulate heavy metals and metalloids leading to health risks; however, there is a lack of information on that matter, possibly due to a lack of international standardization regarding elemental contamination - this study aimed to determine metal and metalloid concentrations in slimming medicinal plants and their respective teas and evaluate their safety consumption. Metal and metalloid content were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). All plants and teas were within the set limits for tolerable upper intake level (UL), provisional tolerable daily maximum intake (PTDMI), and provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI). The hazard quotient index (HQ) was above 1 for almost all plants, and the Hibiscus sabdariffa tea regarding aluminum content. The arsenic level was above the Brazilian Pharmacopeia limit in natura plants demonstrating risk in their consumption. Some herbs also presented detection for elements with no safety limits set, such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic, which could mark as a red flag for consumption once their security intake is not precise yet.
根据世界卫生组织（WHO）的数据，约有 80%的人依赖药用植物来满足他们的基本医疗需求。传统医学的主要优势在于其广泛的人群知识、低严重不良反应率、低成本以及无需处方即可使用。虽然肥胖已成为全球性健康问题，但为了达到减肥目的，人们越来越多地寻求廉价且快速的方法，这导致了草药的使用增加，无论是作为膳食补充剂还是茶。巴西旨在扩大传统医学的同时，有关毒理学和中毒的报告也对天然产品的安全性提出了质疑。植物可能会积累重金属和类金属，从而带来健康风险；然而，关于这方面的信息却很缺乏，这可能是由于缺乏关于元素污染的国际标准化，本研究旨在确定减肥药用植物及其相应茶中的金属和类金属浓度，并评估其安全消费。金属和类金属含量通过电感耦合等离子体光学发射光谱法（ICP-OES）确定。所有植物和茶都在可耐受最高摄入量（UL）、暂定可耐受每日最大摄入量（PTDMI）和暂定可耐受每周摄入量（PTWI）的设定范围内。几乎所有植物的危害商数指数（HQ）都高于 1，而 Hibiscus sabdariffa 茶的铝含量也是如此。天然植物中的砷含量超过了巴西药典的限量，表明其食用存在风险。一些草药还检测到了没有安全限量规定的元素，如铅、镉和砷，这可能会对其食用提出警示，因为目前还无法确定它们的安全摄入量。
